When You Need to Show Mechanism of Injury

May 19, 2016

Animations are a powerful way to demonstrate mechanism of injury, but the evidence required for near-perfect accuracy gets more complicated when an animation involves people - as it almost always does when depicting mechanism of injury.

Accuracy in animation is a science that requires real-world data to calculate a near-perfect reconstruction of what happened. You can try to gather all the evidence yourself from police reports and eye witness accounts, engineering diagrams, etc., or you could consult an expert in a particular field who understands exactly what’s needed to prove what happened - so that we can accurately depict it.

These experts are trained in both engineering and medical science, and understand exactly what’s needed to prove (and show) a mechanism of injury. Not only can this expert ‘realistically’ testify to what happened, he or she can help you gather all the necessary data needed, using the latest technologies, to ensure your animation’s near-perfect accuracy for admission.

The difference between when and why you should use a reconstruction expert versus a biomechanical expert is demonstrated below in two animations depicting similar bicycling accidents.

Showing 'Line of Sight'

The purpose of this animation was to demonstrate a truck driver’s “line of sight,” and prove that the driver should have seen a bicyclist before running him over. The animation does not require showing the biker’s mechanism of injury because it is not required to prove “line of sight” - and thus, a reconstructionist was sufficient in proving what needed to be proved. It’s important to note that when you’re case does not need to show mechanism of injury, the animation is typically less expensive.

Showing 'Mechanism of Injury'

The purpose of this animation was to show how and why the collision caused specific injuries to the victim, which requires showing the actual injury. As you can see when the animation slows down, the configuration of the person becomes extremely complicated to prove definitively. In this example, a biomechanical expert was required to help organize the evidence needed to prove both the physics and biological impact of the accident. The result was a scientifically accurate animation that simplified an extremely complicated event.